ByNissa Rhee, CorrespondentFebruary 8, 2011

This image taken from video received late Monday, Feb. 7, by The Kavkaz Center, a website affiliated with Chechen rebels, shows insurgent leader Doku Umarov speaking in a video in which he claims responsibility for last month's deadly bombing of Moscow's Domodedovo Airport. It was not clear when or where the video was recorded.

Mr. Umarov said in the video that he ordered the Jan. 24 attack on Russia’s largest airport, which killed 36 people and injured 180, and warned that more bombings will follow if Russia does not grant the Caucasus independence.

"Among us there are hundreds of brothers who are prepared to sacrifice themselves,” he said in apparent reference to the possibility of future suicide bombings. “We can at any time carry out operations where we want."

Umarov expressed solidarity with other Islamist militant groups in the video, including those in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan. He added that Muslims around the world are threatened by “Zionist and Christian regimes led by Israel and America,” according to the BBC.

Russia’s Federal Security Service refused to comment today on Umarov’s claims in the video.

Umarov is the leader of Caucasus Emirate, a self-proclaimed Islamic state in the North Caucasus that has been labeled a terrorist organization by the United States and Russia. He is wanted in Russia for kidnapping, treason, and homicide, and has taken responsibility for several large-scale terrorist attacks including the Moscow metro bombings last year, which killed 40.

Umarov donned combat fatigues and a black skullcap in the video, which was dated the day of the airport bombing. The video was posted online by the Kavkaz Center, which is affiliated with Chechen rebels and also posted the previous video over the weekend. In it, the Chechen told Russians to expect a “year of blood and tears.” He threatened monthly, or possibly weekly, suicide bombings if the Russian government does not change its position on the Caucasus.

Top security and transport officials testified before Russia's lower house of parliament on Tuesday about their investigations into last month’s bombing. The House Speaker Boris Gryzlovtold the Russian state-owned news agencyRIA Novosti that reports provided by the officials would “help the lawmakers to decide how the legislation should be changed to ensure security of Russian citizens, including on transport.”

Police discovered components for making a high-yield bomb – including “1.5 kilograms of ammonium saltpeter, almost 1 kilogram of indusial explosive hexogen, 2 kilograms of metal fragments, and about half a kilogram of aluminum powder” – in the home of the terrorist branch’s leader, the republic’s Interior Ministry told Interfax. Authorities have detained four people they believe are affiliated with the group, which the ministry said plans attacks “in order to upset stability in the region.”